Fox is suing a San Francisco digital music distribution company because of its name. According to TMZ, Twentieth Century Fox Television filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against EMPIRE Distribution over the name it shares with Fox's popular television series "Empire." Founded in 2010, EMPIRE Distribution releases digital music from urban artists including leading hip-hop stars Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Kendrick Lamar. Fox's fictional Empire Records releases urban music including hip-hop and R&B, but in a real life twist, songs from the series are actually available for sale. Columbia Records released songs from each episode for the duration of the...

A lawsuit is expected to be filed in California today over the amount of arsenic in some of the best-selling wines in the country. CBS News reports laboratory testing by Denver's BeverageGrades found some wines have as much as time times the maximum level of arsenic the Environmental Protection Agency allows for drinking water. The EPA doesn't regulate wine as it does water, and there are no federal labeling requirements to disclose what's in wine.

The biggest mystery that never unraveled in Florida Election 2014 has to be super-uber trial attorney Steve Mostyn. Why would a Houston multimillionaire with no current business in the Sunshine State out-donate billionaire George Soros, giving it to Democrat Charlie Crist's Florida gubernatorial campaign and the Florida Democratic Party? We never did get to the bottom of it. Crist and Mostyn didn't really know each other before the campaign. What did Mostyn want? Soros, founder of the far-left Open Society Institute, who advocates bringing European social democracy to the United States, only gave Crist a smidgen over $1 million. But...

Lawyers have raked in more than $7.5 billion in fees from the federal Disability Insurance program since 2009, according to a Manhattan Institute report issued Friday. And that money has come directly out of the pockets of workers through the Social Security payroll tax.

But Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said that the initial outpouring of negative reaction may be giving way to a more receptive response as the ad continues to air. “I think opinion has shifted over the past couple of days,” he said. “It is a galvanizing ad, and it stops and commands attention.” By referring to his disability in his political campaign, some analysts say, Mr. Abbott effectively opened the door for Ms. Davis’s depiction of the wheelchair in her ad. “Greg Abbott has made the wheelchair a representation of his strength and his...

A Florida jury has slammed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 1996. The case is one of thousands filed in Florida after the state Supreme Court in 2006 tossed out a $145 billion class action verdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths. Last year, Florida's highest court re-approved that decision, which made it easier for sick smokers or their survivors to pursue lawsuits against...

Legendary singer Willie Nelson will be featured at a high-dollar fundraiser for Democratic governor nominee Wendy Davis. The event will be held April 27 in the Houston backyard of plaintiff’s lawyer Steve and Amber Mostyn, featuring barbecue, Nelson and — for those who stay overnight at the Hotel ZaZa — a campaign briefing on Monday morning.

A man named Webster Lucas is so upset with McDonald's that he has decided to file a lawsuit against them for $1.5 million, but it's not for any reason you could possibly imagine. TMZ reported on Feb. 27, 2014, that the California man is suing McDonald's because they gave him only one napkin with the meal that he ordered and received. Lucas contacted the general manager via email and said that he was suffering from "undue mental anguish" and that stopped him from going to work. He also says that the general manager tried to make amends by offering him...

Not satisfied with President Obama for appointing record numbers of gay, female and minority judges, liberal groups and labor unions are now pressuring the president to nominate more jurists who have backgrounds working for unions and public-interest organizations. The Alliance for Justice, a coalition of more than 100 liberal groups, is lobbying the White House to “broaden the bench” with more judicial nominees who represent what it calls “professional diversity” — judges who are more likely to be aligned with the coalition’s liberal agenda. “We face a federal bench that has a striking lack of diversity,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts...

(CNSNews.com) - "We're still a country very much addicted to tobacco," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a news conference last Friday, as she urged communities, schools and businesses to "help make the next generation a tobacco-free generation." A transcript of that news conference runs around 8,300 words, but there isn't a single word about the adverse health effects of marijuana smoking -- even as more states jump on the pot-legalization bandwagon. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana smoke is an irritant to the lungs, and "frequent marijuana smokers can have many of the same...

The US Justice Department is intervening in a private lawsuit against H&R Block for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. H&R Block is a large provider of American tax services and informational services for tax payers.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wanted to send a “message” by fining a department store almost $4 million after they failed to “report immediately” to the federal government that they were selling children’s clothing with drawstrings. Ross Stores, Inc. settled with the agency in June, agreeing to pay a $3.9 million civil penalty after they “knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it sold or held for sale, about 23,000 children’s upper outerwear garments with drawstrings at the neck or waist.” The company said it settled to avoid costly litigation and denies...

The American Association for Justice Convention at the Hilton in San Francisco this week has brought hords to town — hords of politicians. And we’re betting they’re not so much interested in AAJC’s panel discussions on more kinds of litigation than you ever thought possible — from Super Storm Sandy to bladder cancer, antidepressants to motorcycle lawsuits — than they are in being here in the Mother Lode of political fundraising. After all, the convention is conveniently located just a stone’s throw from Google, Facebook, Twitter, and all that Silicon Valley money — not to mention America’s Cup action that...

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh will investigate possible misconduct by a lawyer involved in making payments to settle claims by people and businesses affected by the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the judge in the spill damages case said on Tuesday.

Disgraced lawyer Melvyn Weiss violated his parole by drinking and driving but a federal judge isn't sending the sad sack back to jail as reported by Dana Feldman and Nate Raymond for Reuters: "Weiss, 77, reached a deal with federal prosecutors on the eve of a Friday hearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on whether to revoke his release following an arrest in December for driving under the influence in Boynton Beach, Florida. The agreement came after Weiss pleaded guilty to the DUI charge on April 18 in Florida and was sentenced to 12 months probation and 50...

The Association of Corporate Counsel is challenging the apparent practice by at least some plaintiffs' firms of using temporary attorneys as profit centers in class actions as reported by Daniel Fisher for Forbes. The 30,000-member trade group has filed a letter with a Manhattan federal court which must approve a $100 million fee request by trial lawyers who negotiated a $590 million settlement in a securities action against Citigroup, and contends that the high rates sought for the temporary lawyers are "beyond what a reasonable, paying client would be willing to pay." In class action lawsuits a substantial portion of...

A man who has spent more than four decades in prison for a Tucson hotel fire that killed 29 people, including some who jumped from windows to escape the searing heat, is expected to be released Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors. Louis Cuen Taylor of Tucson was convicted of murder as a teen but has maintained his innocence in the December 1970 fire at the Pioneer Hotel. The fire came during a Christmas party for employees of an aircraft company and left many guests trapped in their rooms. The building had no sprinkler system, exits were locked...

Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn say they’re giving $1 million to a gun-control group formed by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Steve Mostyn is a major Democratic campaign contributor, backing candidates in Texas and nationally. He gave $3 million to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC aiding President Obama’s re-election. He’s perhaps best known in Texas for launching a media campaign against Rick Perry two years ago in which he chided the Republican governor for his reluctance to debate in his 2010 reelection race with a full-page newspaper ad depicting Perry and...

The nation’s largest gas can manufacturer has closed its doors due to frivolous lawsuits at a time when Hurricane Sandy victims urgently need the containers. The company's closure has resulted in a shortage of gas cans for purchase or use in the disaster areas of the northeast, and in the US as a whole. The company, Blitz U.S.A., is a 50-year-old American business that has closed its doors and laid off all 117 employees. Blitz U.S.A. provided 75% of all gas canisters to the US, a feat which industry insiders say is only possible when a company does everything right....

George Louie is a West Sacramento man who has sued hundreds of Northern California cities and businesses for failing to comply with the federal Americans with Disability Act. This week, Yuba City announced it has agreed to pay Louie $15,000 to leave the city and its businesses alone for good. Louie's lawsuits targeting local governments and small-business owners have usually ended in out-of-court settlements in his favor, because the cases are expensive to fight, said Cris Vaughan, a Loomis attorney who has defended dozens of clients against Louie's lawsuits. Critics have called the suits "frivolous," alleging that they are motivated...

Ain’t that America! A greedy New Jersey woman is trying to cash in on a clutzy Little League catcher — claiming he intentionally beaned her in the face with a baseball during a warm-up session with his pitcher.

The family of a Georgia man who died when his heart couldn’t take a three-way sex romp was awarded a hefty $3 million payout by a jury, according to reports. William Martinez’s estate was originally seeking $5 million in a medical malpractice case that claimed a cardiologist failed to warn the 31-year-old to stay away from physical activity. While Gwinnett County jurors sided with the family Tuesday, they agreed to a lesser amount after finding Martinez was 40% liable for his own death, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday. Martinez, a husband and father of two, was engaged in a threesome...

The last few years have revealed an ugly underbelly to the plaintiffs’ bar, and some of the biggest trial lawyers across the country have been brought down in criminal prosecutions for their sharp practices. Bill Lerach and Mel Weiss, two legal eagles who made a fortune in bringing security fraud class actions against publicly traded companies, pleaded guilty in October 2007 and April 2008, respectively, for their roles in an alleged decades-long conspiracy pursuant to which serial plaintiffs were paid kickbacks from their court-awarded attorneys’ fees in the cases. The Milberg Weiss firm at which both men once were partners...

A handful of Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) subscribers have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a $27.2 million class-action settlement that they say unfairly gives plaintiffs' lawyers over $8 million in fees for bringing suit over the marketing agreement the movie service company entered into with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

Allegations of faulty car design are at the center of a lawsuit by an injured Fresno teen against Ford Motor Co. Shaela Warkentin, 16, suffered serious head and facial injuries a year ago when the 2000 Ford Mustang she was riding in was rear-ended by a pickup. Shaela's head was pinned against the rear edge of the car's roof, and rescuers had to cut the roof from the car to free her. The injuries cost the girl her eyesight and left her hospitalized for weeks. Fresno attorney Warren Paboojian filed the suit Friday on behalf of Shaela and her sister,...

A lawyer for the Washington Legal Foundation said the Obama administration "tends to favor the interests of plaintiffs' lawyers who want more opportunities to sue corporations." Richard Samp made the remarks following the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection ...

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - A roundtable of federal and state judges from across the country will convene at the posh Ritz Carlton on Feb. 9 to address topics such as "Can MDL's keep up with state court trial settings;" "Priority of deposition examination;" "State and federal cooperation;" and "Forum non conveniens." Sponsored by Mass Torts Made Perfect, the event is open to plaintiff and defense lawyers. It is not, however, open to the media. Since public servants are convening to discuss public issues (mass torts dramatically affect the economy and the court systems), should the conference be open to the...

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Pennsylvania is known as the Quaker State and Philadelphia as the Quaker City because both were founded by William Penn, who was a member of the Society of Friends - also called Quakers. Quakers hold to "a belief in the possibility of direct, unmediated communion with the Divine." Some would suggest, however, that Philadelphia's courts are anything but divinely inspired. The January edition ...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Independent scientific research institutes whose work influences the policies of the U.S. government as well as governments abroad, also impacts litigation in the states, an economics professor says. "The information from these think tanks does bubble up," said Professor Alex Tabarrok, chair of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia. And one such organization is the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff, Cesare Maltoni and other scientists. Selikoff is credited as a pioneer in field of asbestos research, having established a link between the inhalation of asbestos...

In New York, they call it the Bronx Jury Effect. Here, it's called the South Philadelphia Jury Effect, which looks something like a wealth redistribution scheme, according to a legal observer. "Philadelphia's courts have been bad for years," said James Copland, Director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Reform. Copland said the effect is a net result of juries that will award exorbitant amounts to plaintiffs who are suing anyone - such as doctors or large corporations - they perceive as being able to pay and that they believe should pay out large amounts. Empirical data exists that indicates...

With so much at stake for businesses weighted down by litigation costs, can juries in asbestos cases be trusted to render fair and just verdicts? While there is general agreement on some pieces of the scientific puzzle - for example there's no dispute that amphibole fibers cause mesothelioma - there are differences among highly regarded scientists about the effects of chrysotile fibers. Two Philadelphia lawyers, one a plaintiffs attorney the other a defense attorney, were asked how they address asbestos science in the courtroom.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - There are some who say all forms of asbestos are unsafe and to be exposed to any amount is hazardous, while others say that one form of asbestos can be handled safely. Then there are some who are not sure. Some of the leading scientific researchers, experts in the field of mesothelioma research and occupational medicine, have divergent opinions on the nature of the hazards caused by asbestos. Four scientists were asked four questions about asbestos. Each one of them has distinguished ...

Buried in the text of President Obama’s jobs bill is a provision named the “Fair Employment Opportunity Act,” which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against the unemployed. At a recent town-hall event, the president singled out this provision as a much-needed federal safeguard against businesses’ reluctance to hire, in the words of one softball questioner, “really good candidates that suffered from a downward trend in their credit history due to lack of job opportunities.” Like many of the policies outlined in the president’s plan, the measure sounds like a well-intentioned effort to help the 9 percent of...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Asbestos litigation has become a multibillion-dollar industry -- bankrupting large corporations, enriching lawyers and courts and providing much needed relief to victims of the deadly diseases that exposure to some types asbestos in specific amounts will cause. Asbestos has been called by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks "the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history." But Franks, R-Ariz., condemned much of the legal process of those who are suing to recover damages caused by some of these substances. There is much about asbestos that is unknown. It is not all settled science. There is general scientific concurrence...

The practice of making duplicate claims from asbestos tort and trust systems was hammered by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) during a House subcommittee hearing Friday. Franks said that asbestos litigation has long been - and continues to be - rife with deception and exploitation, negatively effecting asbestos victims, the legal system and the employment of American workers. He noted that it has been five years since Congress provided oversight of asbestos litigation. At the time, widespread fraud in mass asbestos screenings was uncovered. "This massive fraud turned the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history into one of the country's...

If you can judge a political candidate by the enemies he makes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands pretty tall. For example, the national tort-lawyer lobby is set to spend millions to try to stop the GOP presidential hopeful in his tracks. No wonder: Perry, in his 10 years as Texas governor, has managed to implement serious tort reform in a state that even a top litigator concedes was once Â“the golden gooseÂ” for high-end jury verdicts. DonÂ’t think for a moment, though, that the tort bar is gearing up in the names of truth, justice and the American Way. As...

Politico: Trial Lawyers Prep for War on Perry Bryan Preston August 22, 2011 Trial lawyers really donâ€™t like Rick Perry, and one whose name should be familiar to PJ readers is gearing up to go after Perry as he runs for president: Democratic Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn Â— who, along with his wife, Amber, donated nearly $9 million to Texas candidates and party committees in the 2010 cycle Â— said heÂ’s in the process of forming Â“some federal PACsÂ” to take on Perry. That will likely include a federal super PAC that could take in the kind of massive...

Texas has successfully implemented tort reform on the state level, saving businesses billions of dollars in the long run, and Rick Perry deserves a significant amount of credit for its conclusion. He pushed through a final 2003 reform act that made Texas a model for tort reform, the finale of a long effort to transform the state from a â€śgolden gooseâ€ť for trial lawyers to a pro-business model. Even trial lawyers admit that the state needed some reform, as Politico reports, but now plan to fight hard against a Perry nomination or candidacy: John Coale, a former trial lawyer who...

America’s trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred – and fear – as Perry, an avowed opponent of the plaintiffs’ bar who has presided over several rounds of tort reform as governor. And if Perry ends up as the Republican nominee for president, deep-pocketed trial lawyers intend to play a central role in the campaign to defeat him. That’s a potential financial boon to a president who has unsettled trial lawyers with...

Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2011 / 02:37 am (CNA).- The Catholic University of America says its plan to house men and women separately will withstand any legal challenge from John Banzhaf, known for his lawsuits over fast food and women's bathrooms. In a June 21 statement provided to CNA, the university said it “has not received service of any legal proceedings from Professor John Banzhaf regarding the University’s plan to phase in single-gender residence halls.” Earlier this week, a Fox affiliate in the District reported that Prof. Banzhaf had issued the school an “intent-to-sue” notice because of the plan. The...

Leave it to democrats to always push filling the coffers of their biggest contributors. It’s “full employment” antics for both of them. So they collude to find warm and fuzzy labels for draconian legislation. They may as well tell us, “Oh, Joey and Addie are just moving people around to create employment opportunities,” as we collectively recoil from the horrors of Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler. And, so, the “Sunshine in Litigation Act” has re-entered the legislative calendars of both the House (HR 592) and Senate (S 623).

The powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expanding its investigation of possible ethics violations by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, including improper "backdoor communications" between the panel and trial lawyers suing major banks over subprime investments, IBD has learned. The Democrat-appointed commission, tasked with examining the "root causes" of the crisis, used its subpoena power to extract millions of pages of confidential memos and emails from banks. Those documents were posted on the Web and are now being used in major litigation against these banks. Some documents posted on the FCIC site include correspondence with federal regulators that...

Trial Lawyers: Why We Love to Hate ThemBy John R. Smith for Bizpac ReviewWhat is it that makes trial attorneys and personal injury lawyers the most despised group, except for career politicians and organized labor? Maybe it's because of the practices they engage in and the morality of their actions.Â Letâ€™s sift through the evidence and see if we can find it in our hearts to pity the trial lawyers...Click here to read more.

No Forgiveness for John Edwards The National Enquirer reports that when John Edwards realized that the end was near he begged his betrayed wife for forgiveness, but Elizabeth refused to relent. On her deathbed, a hurt, angry Elizabeth screamed at John, saying ‘You ruined my life — I’ll NEVER forgive you!’ Reports say that John Edwards repeatedly broke down in tears, and actually doubled over with grief at Elizabeth’s bedside. But she showed John no remorse. Nothing he said could change Elizabeth’s mind. The only concession Elizabeth was willing to grant her cheating husband was to pray with him that...

The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to throw out Sheri Schooley's lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse in suburban Detroit. Liberal justices were in the majority in a decision that raises questions about what businesses need to do to protect themselves from liability in strange situations. Schooley, 58, acknowledged it's a "bizarre story." She and her husband were out for dinner on New Year's Eve 2007 when she visited the restroom. "I reached and the cover of the toilet paper dispenser fell down on my hand," the South Rockwood woman told The Associated Press on Monday. "It looked like the dispenser was...

A jury in Delaware on Wednesday awarded $30 million in compensatory damages to a man who said he was sexually abused more than 100 times by a Roman Catholic priest — the largest such award granted to a single victim in a clergy abuse case, victims’ advocates said. Related In an unusual outcome, the jury decided that the parish where the abuse occurred, St. Elizabeth in Wilmington, must pay $3 million of the damages, while the perpetrator is liable for the rest. Parishes have previously been held liable in only one or two cases involving abuse by Catholic priests, according...